"I believe in Christianity as I believe the sun has risen, not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else." ~ C. S. Lewis (Yes, even politics)

In loving memory of Mr. Z

Thursday, November 1, 2012

American Heroes

When I was a child, most of my reading involved stories about our founding fathers, the early pioneers, and westward settlers. These were books about hardship and triumph, endeavor, failure, and success. All of the stories embellished the reality of the main character in one way or another, principally because back then, people didn’t write stories for boys to introduce them to the seedy aspects of life; they wrote stories to encourage them to pursue the good, the honorable, and the worthwhile. No one really believed that Davy Crockett killed a bear at the age of three, but the frugality of William Penn was plausible, and instructive. And besides all that, it was wonderful backdrop for the playtime activities of energetic young boys —sixty years ago.I wonder, now that the left has destroyed the reputations of all our founding fathers, whether there are any heroes left to celebrate. Maybe that’s at the crux of our problem in America: we’ve run out of heroes.

Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln was a hero of sorts; we relished in the stories of his youth. How he learned to read from the Bible on the dirt floor of a log cabin to the light of dim candles or lanterns. We learned how he wanted the black people to be free and share in the glory of America … but of course, that wasn’t at all true. Lincoln did want to free the slaves, but he wanted to send them back to Africa. I didn’t learn about that until much later, and by then, I had learned to place such knowledge in its proper historical context.And Clara Barton was a hero to many children, for her exceptional life and her many achievements. As a young woman, someone introduced my grandmother to Ms. Barton, who inspired her to become a nurse.Perhaps our last hero in America was Black Jack Pershing, and before him, Teddy Roosevelt (whom my grandmother never much appreciated because he was too full of himself). Whom else, do you think? Did Dwight Eisenhower, George S. Patton, Douglas MacArthur, or Chester W. Nimitz ever become our heroes? I know someone made a stab at creating that persona for John Kennedy, but I think his libido got in the way.I think that for the most part, “sports heroes” have been a major disappointment. What about Mark Felt, formerly the second most senior man in the FBI who invented a pornographic pseudonym and brought down a president? Should we consider the first black American to achieve the office of Attorney General of the United States a hero? Is Barack Obama worthy of becoming a hero, even if he achieved nothing on his own merit?I suspect we cannot consider Mr. Deep Throat a hero. He was a spineless coward, a lawbreaker, an oath breaker, and an embarrassment to the Federal Bureau of Investigation —as was Mr. G-man himself, whom we learned was a cross-dresser, and worse. Eliot Ness ended up killing himself. Nor can we consider Mr. Holder a hero, in spite of his accomplishments. He contributed to the murder of a police officer and more than a hundred Mexican citizens. Barack Obama isn’t a hero … not after trying to cover up the murder of Ambassador Stevens and three other Americans. What message does Obama send to millions of young black kids —or are adults hiding the facts to achieve an agenda?

We seem to be running out of options for heroes. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Z: Mustang, I believe you're so right; Heroes are important. I teach my preschoolers once a week about American heroes and I include George Washington and the cherry tree "I cannot tell a lie"...and I tell them it might not be true but it might as well be because it's not good to lie and Mr. Washington's character was obviously excellent because he became the Father of our Country! They really get that. I believe our children should grow up believing in the heroes...not only that Columbus raped and pillaged! And they learn from me that Abe Lincoln isremembered as a very honest person and, as a child, studied by candlelight..a good lesson for children of a boy who was hungry for knowledge.

When they're older, let them learn the whole truth; by then, they'll have grown up loving America and having learned about how great our heroes were. These days, they need to learn about putting a condom on a banana before learning about heroes...where does a country go from there? I love what you wrote and I, too, would like to hear what HEROES our readers will come up with. I'd start with our Navy SEALS...........wouldn't you?

61 comments:

I can't think of one or two people to elevate to that status at the moment, but we can inculcate in our children the qualities of the unsung heroes....the bystander who risks their life pulling someone from a burning car...the police officer who uses their body to shield a civilian from danger....the list goes on. It goes without saying that many in our Armed Forces are on this list, but thankfully, we do a pretty good job of recognizing their courage.

The fundamental problem is multi-layered, but in essence, we have run out of real heroes because the term has been diluted to include those who are merely popular and those who have an athletic ability. we have stopped looking for true heroism since we have so many choices of celebrity and pop culture to razzle and dazzle us.

Mustang and Z are so correct in their analysis, but it also serves to bring out the cynic in me.

When I was a child, I read many books from Landmark books. Maybe others here recall that series.

When it comes to American heroes, most American schoolchildren today have very limited knowledge. That realization has recently slapped me in the face in the homeschool group, particularly in the middle school class. These kids are voracious readers! Still, the boys are reading nearly exclusively about sports heroes instead of figures from American history.

One day a few years ago, I mentioned Helen Keller's name and got a blank stare from the face of everyone in the room -- including from some of the parents. Can you believe it? The parents didn't know who Helen Keller was! These parents are in their 30s and early 40s.

But here's something interesting....The students from Korea, China, and Ethiopia (immigrants themselves or born here as the children of immigrants) know a lot about America's heroes. In detail!

Folks, we are losing our American heritage because it's not being passed on by our own citizens, many of whom are woefully ignorant themselves.

You'll note that I didn't limit my last comment to Americans. That was a deliberate move on my part. American culture built on her European heritage to create a new heritage. We can show that pattern to young people without putting American heritage in the background, IMO.

Yes, we can hold certain historical figures up for certain virtues they possessed, but we must also teach our children that we are all human, and thus imperfect.

Dig deep enough, and no one comes out squeaky clean.

It is useful to point out virtuous behavior for emulation, and we should respect the memories and accomplishments of of people who came before us, but we should also keep it all in perspective. They were, after all, just human beings, created by God, like the rest of us.

DICAEOPOLIS. Spectators, be not angered if, although I am a beggar, I dare in a Comedy to speak before the people of Athens of the public weal; Comedy too can sometimes discern what is right. I shall not please, but I shall say what is true. Besides, Cleon shall not be able to accuse me of attacking Athens before strangers; we are by ourselves at the festival of the Lenaea; the period when our allies send us their tribute and their soldiers is not yet. Here is only the pure wheat without chaff; as to the resident strangers settled among us, they and the citizens are one, like the straw and the ear.

I detest the Lacedaemonians with all my heart, and may Posidon, the god of Taenarus, cause an earthquake and overturn their dwellings! My vines also have been cut. But come (there are only friends who hear me), why accuse the Laconians of all our woes? Some men (I do not say the city, note particularly, that I do not say the city), some wretches, lost in vices, bereft of honour, who were not even citizens of good stamp, but strangers, have accused the Megarians of introducing their produce fraudulently, and not a cucumber, a leveret, a sucking-pig, a clove of garlic, a lump of salt was seen without its being said, "Halloa! these come from Megara," and their being instantly confiscated. Thus far the evil was not serious, and we were the only sufferers. But now some young drunkards go to Megara and carry off the courtesan Simaetha; the Megarians, hurt to the quick, run off in turn with two harlots of the house of Aspasia; and so for three gay women Greece is set ablaze. Then Pericles, aflame with ire on his Olympian height, let loose the lightning, caused the thunder to roll, upset Greece and passed an edict, which ran like the song, "That the Megarians be banished both from our land and from our markets and from the sea and from the continent." Meanwhile the Megarians, who were beginning to die of hunger, begged the Lacedaemonians to bring about the abolition of the decree, of which those harlots were the cause; several times we refused their demand; and from that time there was a horrible clatter of arms everywhere. You will say that Sparta was wrong, but what should she have done? Answer that. Suppose that a Lacedaemonian had seized a little Seriphian dog on any pretext and had sold it, would you have endured it quietly? Far from it, you would at once have sent three hundred vessels to sea, and what an uproar there would have been through all the city! there 'tis a band of noisy soldiery, here a brawl about the election of a Trierarch; elsewhere pay is being distributed, the Pallas figure-heads are being regilded, crowds are surging under the market porticos, encumbered with wheat that is being measured, wine-skins, oar-leathers, garlic, olives, onions in nets; everywhere are chaplets, sprats, flute-girls, black eyes; in the arsenal bolts are being noisily driven home, sweeps are being made and fitted with leathers; we hear nothing but the sound of whistles, of flutes and fifes to encourage the work-folk. That is what you assuredly would have done, and would not Telephus have done the same? So I come to my general conclusion; we have no common sense.

FIRST SEMI-CHORUS. Oh! wretch! oh! infamous man! You are naught but a beggar and yet you dare to talk to us like this! you insult their worships the informers!

There's an old Italian proverb, "Alexander never did what he said, and Caesar never said what he did."

George Washington was more Caesar, than Alexander. And the country was better for it.

There is good "reason" why Ben Franklin's autobiography ends LONG before the Revolution. There is good "reason" why the real history of the Revolutionary War remains murky, to this very day.

"The Prophecy of King Tammany.

"The Indian Chief who, fam'd of yoreSaw Europe's sons advent'ring hereLook'd sorrowing to the crowded shore,And sighing dropt a tear:He saw them half his world explore,He saw them draw the shining blade,He saw their hostile ranks display'd,And cannons blazing thro' that shade,Where only peace was known before.

"Ah what unequal arms! he cry'd,How are thou fall'n my country s pride,The rural sylvan reign!Far from our pleasing shores to goTo Western Rivers, winding slow,Is this the boon the Gods bestow?What have we done, great patrons, say,That strangers seize our woods away,And drive us naked from our native plain?

Rage and revenge inspire my soul,And passion burns without controlHence strangers, to your native shore,Far from our Indian shades retire.Remove these Gods that vomit fire,And stain with blood these ravag'd glades no more.

In vain I weep, in vain I sigh,These strangers all our arms defy,As they advance our chieftains die!—What can their hosts oppose?The bow has lost its wonted spring,The arrow faulters on the wing,Nor carries ruin from the stringTo end their being and our woes."Yes yes—I see our nation bends;The Gods no longer are our friends,But why these weak complaints and sighs?Are there not gardens in the West,Where all our far fam'd Sachems rest?I ll go an unexpected guest;And the dark horrors of the way despise.

"When struggling long, at last with pain,You brake a cruel tyrant's chain,That never shall be joined again,When half your foes are homeward fled,And hosts on hosts in triumph fled,And hundreds maim'd and thousands dead,A timid race shall then succeed,Shall slight the virtues of the firmer race,That brought your tyrants to disgrace,Shall give your honours to an odious train,Who shunn'd all conflicts on the main,And dar'd no battles on the plain,Whose little souls sunk in the gloomy day,When Virtues only could support the fray,And sunshine friends keep off or ran away.

"So spoke the chief; and rais'd his funeral pyre— Around him soon the crackling flames ascend;He smil'd amid the fervours of the fire,To think his troubles were so near their end,.Till the freed soul, her debt to nature paid,Rose from the ashes that her prison made,And sought the world unknown, and dark oblivion's shade. "

My personal hero is Lafayette. And he's not squeaky clean since he had mistresses. But aside from Jesus, who can be squeaky clean?

I also agree that there are everyday heroic people. People who work their butt off to pay the bills and support their kids. I think we'd be better off if we were making heroes out of self-reliant people. That would be a good message to convey. Let the kids know that you have to take care of yourselves and your close ones before being a hero to many people.

Heroes are supposed to be those act in a courageous and self-sacrificing manner for the good of others.We've reduced the term to mean role model or idol.Typically we refer to them as the "hero of the story" or "war hero".This indicates that they acted heroically at one point, not life-long.This fits Silverfiddle's comment which I agree with.That said, those heroic actions and perhaps not the person should be held up for emulation if not adulation, which would reflect well on the person, without having to gloss over personal defects, of which we all display.

I'll let Mustang speak for himself but HERO WORSHIP is nothing promoted in this piece.

Hero appreciation; their virtues, their stories, are something children DO learn from and, oh yes, if kids aren't spending too much time on their self-esteem like they do at Montessori, they definitely do understand there were people in this world bigger than others in what they did and how they thought and that makes a huge and encouraging impact like "I can do something BIG!"

To me, character is important, and it's largely what we're missing in Americans today.

AOW, again, I can't speak for Mustang, but my whole point in my class IS strictly American heroes...absolutely.

FT, I don't want children to "follow" anyone, but to learn from the good things the people did.

I believe we're the only country which had some of the greatest men ever in its history but which doesn't teach children to love our country because many teachers feel it's 'too patriotic'...that's a very dangerous scenario for ANY country. I was proud to be American growing up; people are STILL wishing to come in in droves (even if I've been proven right about why they came lately because now that the gravy train of jobs isn't there, they're leaving)...and yet we're in overtime insulting our own.

FB, excellent point there....and part of how the Left organized in the deconstruction of this exceptional country; 'NOBODY CAN BE A HERO IF THEY HAD ONE SLAVE,' for example. it doesn't work that way but it's SO compelling to students, and they knew that, the leftist organizers. And they've won. So far.

And, yes...heroes are the great men on the street (if you can still find them) but I STILL believe that our small children should be dazzled by the Davy Crockets and Washingtons, and Thomas Edisons and Helen Kellers and The Wright Brothers and Amelia Earhart, and SO many others. There is something very exciting and inspiring in all of them and more and our kids feel that. My students' parents tell me they come home going on and on about what I've told them... Because I have to admit I have pretty clever ways of highlighting people and the kids remember them.

I think it's important they learn how great Americans are before they go into public school and get the large does of liberal poison.

Americans had great people in their history and children benefit from knowing about them and what they did to help our country and to inspire others to be better people. They still are, in my classes.

No 'following', no hero 'worship'. ..My kids are 4 years old, they need to hear about our 'heroes' because it'll stick with them in some ways, and they feel proud of their country every Friday.They'll have those people brought to their knees, 'heroes' destroyed, in new American history books soon enough.

Children do need heroes...they don't need to feel that every time they admire someone, something negative needs to be exposed...not till they're older. That's disheartening and unfair to them and our country.

not "Ya, they did good, but he had a slave..." Not to four year olds.

It's "Ya, they did good, and wouldn't WE like to do something that great in our lifetimes, inspiring future AMericans?"

Because we need Something we can relate to as flawed human beings that PORTRAYS or REPRESENTS ideals that give us hope that life can be beautiful and improvement possible.

Since ALL human beings have flaws, it is downright stupid to insist that leading members of society past and present must be perfect paragons of virtue in order to maintain credibility.

When it comes to GENUINE ACHIEVEMENTS worthy of note. For instance, the personal habits and predilections of great authors, poets, composers of serious music and artists neither add nor detract from my appreciation of their WORK.

It is frankly insane, or hopelessly naive at best, to insist there be perfect consistency between any individual's professed ideals and values and their personal behavior.

The TRUTH is that we need Something or Someone to LOOK UP to much more than we need to know all the "facts" about their failures and pecadillos.

We've lived in A MILITANTLY ICONOCLASTIC AGE for so long now we have foolishly allowed ourselves to be persuaded to embrace the curious notion that anyone who falls short of ABSOLUTE PERFECTION is not worthy of our esteem.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why we are zealously tearing each other -- and by extension -- our NATION to shreds.

Beetle-shelled cynicism and incessant derogation do not a healthy society make.

'Tis better to live happily with beautiful illusions than to make ourselves miserable with institutionalized captiousness.

The poet Thomas Gray said it much better in his Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard:

Along with my great admiration for all things beautiful, constructive, brilliant and unique, I happen to have an unconventional concept of what true heroism is.

This little poem from exactly one year ago expresses it succinctly:

To Those Who Help

May God bless the practical women and men,Who rise from the hay every day, and then Produce what we need Without rancor or greed, Make things run, Get things done, Keep things clean, So they're fit to be seen, And continuously smooth the way So that we may live comfortably every day.

The first class, the class most people think of first, is the every day hero, of which there are millions. In my book, every current or former service member, military, fireman, policeman, or first responder might be a hero. Your parents might be heroes. Maybe it was a former teacher or preacher. Some one who goes or went above the call to help someone with NO personal gain, but because it was the right thing to do.

The second class, the REAL heroes, the heroes known by millions is a very short list. Who's my favorite hero? I think, without a doubt, George Washington tops my list. Why? He gave up the power to rule this country, not just once, but TWICE! Right after we defeated the British in the Revolutionary War but before we even were a country, people were begging him to be king. Washington absolutely REFUSED. His answer was that we just fought a war to get RID of a king and we will NOT have a king now. He went home to Mont Vernon instead. Later, after much begging and prodding, he did accept the position of President, but even then, would not keep the position, which he could have easily done. Once the system was in place to elect his replacement, he declined to run and again went home to Mont Vernon. Had he been less of a man, we might never have become the republic we are today.

Average, I agree with you about Washington; an extraordinary man. And I want my little students to learn his name and learn from my presentation and my demeanor what a great hero he was.They pick up on emotions and thrive when given stories like the Cherry Tree, true or not (and I always mention it might not be but why we learn it), they think twice before they lie about something..their parents tell me.

Check that out...Geraldo thinks the GOP's using Benghazi for politics. As if it's getting anybody interested in the facts other than the conservatives who know we've been lied to?Apparently, it's okay for leftwingers to lie and cover and, if that's called to question, it's all POLITICS. WHat a frightening thing for America. I Personally think our four heroes are WORTH getting the truth out for.

MANY Leftwingers admit something was severely wrong...but I guess they'd be ousted from their journalism work if they mentioned it a second time in writing.

Meanwhile, Obama's not politicizing New Jersey's tragedies from the storm?? :-)

Ducky, you're stuck; but perhaps I've given the wrong impression.I may occasionally use the term HERO to my children, but very infrequently..they're learning about Americans who've done great things; it's a rare person who can say Edison, Washington, The Wright Brothers, etc., didn't do great things, but I suppose you could be one of them?

Delighted that you ask that question; it's what's so shockingly lost in our culture today; What's far more worthwhile developing ideas for is how some people actually have trouble deciding what's heroic or admirable in human beings.WOW.

My parents run into me and tell me how "johnny" went on and on about Thomas Edison or Abe Lincoln or Johnny APpleseed...the parents thank me over and over again.

One told me that her 4 yr old was at The Coffee Bean with her when the mom entered into a conversation about Babe Ruth with an acquaintance in line somehow...finally, the Mom told me little Maya asked "who is he?" "A baseball player"...Mom was astonished when Maya said "Better than Jackie Robinson?" Their jaws dropped.I'd taught Lincoln, I'd taught a little of slavery and how Jackie Robinson was a black man who played great ball ..etc......

Another kid was at the Smithsonian with his folks and his folks couldn't wait to tell me that "Aden heard something about Amelia Erhart and asked the docent 'do you have the Little Red Bus here?'"The docent AND the parents couldn't believe it. That was MONTHS after I'd taught about her.

They hear, they digest, and they love their history...it's really fun and very rewarding to know they remember like that. You have to know just how to present it and then it works so well!Thanks, SFBy the way, the ones from last year even remember Ochoa, the first female hispanic astronaut...good stuff.

I don’t think people wake up in the morning and mutter to themselves, “Well, today I’m going to do something heroic.” I think people simply go about their daily lives and in some ways, become heroes to others. Maybe it’s a first responder who saved someone’s life, or someone like Dakota Meyer, for his gallant conduct, or perhaps it is someone like Oskar Schindler who does something remarkable at great peril to himself.

I do think Washington warrants being a hero … he was deeply principled, stoic, and moral. He wasn’t perfect. Neither was Franklin or Jefferson. Paine’s frustration drove him to drink. Like most of us, these men struggled with the demons; some of them won, others lost. I don’t think Z and Mustang are pushing hero worship. I think they are wondering about modern examples of real people who offer up a part of themselves for the good of humanity. I don’t see very many of these, and isn’t this their point?

And then Ducky’s comment about preschoolers pushes forward the notion that he could be one of the least astute people on the planet. Of course preschoolers get it … which is more than anyone can say for Ducky.

I think the left has gone out of its way to destroy our history, to revise it so that it shows that America is unexceptional. This process negates many of the heroes suggested by the post.

I think the "play time" aspect is very important; it helps children make the transition into adolescents, and then into adults. There is nothing wrong with children playing "good guys" vs. "bad guys." We prohibit them from such activities at our societies own peril.

These things require adult guidance. Sam Adams was a hero in America, he was an outlaw according to the British. In play time, children eventually come to ask these kinds of questions. Are hero parents available to answer them?

He might help overthrow Arab dictators who are unsavory but friendly to America and, in their place, help to instal Islamic regimes and call it the “Arab Spring.”

A Muslim president might talk about his close and special relationship with the Islamist Prime Minister of Turkey and repeatedly insult the Prime Minister of Israel.

He might go before The United Nations and say “the future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam.”

Oh, Obama has already done those things. Oh well, that doesn’t mean anything. He’s got to be a Christian, after all, he went to a church for twenty years whose Pastor was a former Muslim who hated America."

I just don’t understand how those stupid Republicans can doubt Our President and not give him their total support. How could he possibly be a Muslim?"

Z, I should have mentioned when I said that George Washington was my first choice Hero, that anyone going to Washington DC HAS TO VISIT Mont Vernon! If you go there and do not see that . then you WASTED your trip. It, AND he are so inspirational, it will boggle your mind. As an example, did you know that during the actual crossing of the Delaware River and the battle with the Hessians, in which all were captured or killed, General Washington did not lose A SINGLE LIFE?? NOT ONE! That attack for flawlessly planned and expertly carried out, probably the most successful rout in wartime history. It also was the turning point of the Revoluntionary War. Had it not been for that battle and it's outcome, we may well still be paying Queen Elizabeth a tax on our tea!

Yea we are...we could have left you kissing the retard George's ring and ass. What a shame that a state that fought back against a monarchy.....now embraces one. What a shame that the revolution started in Mass...and you've betrayed the fundamentals since then. The entire state is a bunch of illiterate Irish assholes and lacey frauds.

My grandfather was a radioman / communications guy in the Signal Corps unit attached to General Rose's command. I've always found it poignant that the first American tanks to blast into Nazi Germany were led, from the front, by a Jewish American general.

Of course my first answer would be Jesus Christ, and those prophets in the Bible, Moses, Isaac, Jacob, Paul, etc.

I would see Amelia Earhart as a great heroine for young girls, she was very intelligent, independent and a pilot!

I was disappointed to learn that Helen Keller embraced socialism, but you cannot blame her for that, she was taught all about it and that's all she knew, but look at how she overcame her disabilities.

And I would point out those that are not famous, like our military personnel. Those that save people and keep on about their business.

My mom is one of my heroines, she overcame many of her disabilities and raised 3 little girls on her own without the help of the government a dead-beat dad and zero relatives that refused to help her because she divorced an abusive alcoholic. I adore my mother, and I let my boys know what wonderful example she is.

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"Freedom is never more than one generation away fromextinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must befought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day wewill spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children whatit was once like in the United States where men werefree." -- Ronald Reagan

remember

Andrew Breitbart...American Hero

Mac 'n GeeeZis my food blog...enjoy! Sorry I haven't added to it in a long while.

President Obama has done such a horrible job with the economy and foreign policy that now Kenyans are accusing him of being born in the United States :-)

important reminders:

We are surrounded by IDIOTS...Mr. Z

“Barack Obama's political genius is his ability to say things that will sound good to people who have not followed the issues in any detail —regardless of how obviously fraudulent what he says may be to those who have. Shameless effrontery can be a huge political asset, especially if uninformed voters outnumber those who are informed.” Thomas Sowell.........AMENTolerance is the last virtue of a dying society. (doesn't matter who wrote it, it's true and it's here)

The modern definition of 'racist' is someone who is winning an argument with a liberal.... Peter Brimelow

The difference between golf and government is that in golf you can't improve your lie. ~George Deukmejian

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